Recipes Holidays + Events Celebrations Recipes to Celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights By F&W Editors Published on October 13, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Andria Lo Also known as the festival of lights, Diwali is the most significant holiday in India and throughout the South Asian diaspora. The festival celebrates the triumph of light over darkness. The celebration lasts five days, during which time people decorate their homes, buy new clothes, exchange gifts, and gather with families and friends to enjoy a magnificent feast of sweet treats. With the vibrancy of this holiday top of mind, we picked out some delicious dishes for your Diwali celebration, from Masala Mixed Nuts and Pista Burfi Bark to Chhundo and Goat Cheese Crostini. 01 of 15 Pista Burfi Bark Andria Lo Floral, fragrant cardamom shines in this rich and nutty dessert inspired by burfi (a type of fudgy, milk-based Indian sweet), so sourcing fresh, quality spices is a must. For her Diwali celebration, blogger and cookbook author Hetal Vasavada tops her bark with edible flowers and gold leaf, making for a stunning presentation. Edible foil must be 24-karat gold or pure silver to be safe for consumption. They can be purchased from Slo Food Group. Order dried organic rose petals from Rose Dose or look for fresh calendula or pansies. (Petals from Whole Foods or other retailers will work as long as they marked as "edible.") Go to recipe 02 of 15 Laal Maas (Rajasthani Goat Curry) with Sweet Saffron Zarda Pulao Matt Blair Spicy goat curry meets sweet saffron rice in this holiday meal. Both Maneet Chauhan and her husband, Vivek Deora, grew up eating spicy goat curry. Chauhan created this recipe, which is Rajasthani in style, based on what Deora's mother made when he was a child for Diwali. When you spoon up the spicy, savory goat curry along with the sweet saffron rice, you taste a medley of sweet, spicy and gamey flavors accented with the crunchy nuts. If you can't find goat meat, substitute cubed leg of lamb for this celebration meal. Go to recipe 03 of 15 Hash Brown Chaat Andria Lo Sweet, spiced apple butter chutney and an herbaceous green chutney, crunchy toppings, and plenty of spices and herbs make this potato-based snack, which blogger and cookbook author Hetal Vasavada serves at her Diwali celebration, a riot of texture and flavors that is so essential to chaat (a category of Indian cuisine that roughly means "snacks"). Don't skip out on the black salt, which adds distinct funkiness to the dish. Save leftover green chutney to top scrambled eggs, tacos, or grilled chicken. Go to recipe 04 of 15 Masala Chai with Green Tea Andria Lo Though masala chai is more commonly made with just black tea, blogger and cookbook author Hetal Vasavada adds green tea to give a nice earthiness to her version of the drink. Sourcing the proper tea is important for the best results; look for Wagh Bhakri brand or Typhoo Tea at your local South Asian grocer or online. Simmering the dry tea in a small amount of water allows it to fully infuse the scalded milk, which has subtle caramel notes. Go to recipe 05 of 15 Chhundo and Goat Cheese Crostini Andria Lo Chhundo, a pickled marmalade-like condiment that's tangy and sticky-sweet, with light heat and fragrance from Kashmiri chile powder, tops these goat cheese crostini, which blogger and cookbook author Hetal Vasavada serves at her Diwali celebration. Green mangoes are essential for this recipe—seek out large mangoes with light green skin and crisp white flesh. Go to recipe 06 of 15 Spiced Pumpkin Lassi Marcus Nilsson For this thick and creamy pumpkin lassi from chef Rupam Bhagat of Dum in San Francisco, be sure to use a nice, healthy squash for a smooth texture and rich flavor. If you want a thinner consistency, add water gradually 1/4 cup at a time. Go to recipe 07 of 15 Tandoori Pomfret Matt Blair Pomfret or another light, flaky fish is seasoned with a spice-rice yogurt marinade and then broiled for a quick and flavorful supper. Maneet Chauhan calls pomfret a prized fish, noting that in India, it is one of the few freshwater fish that doesn't have a lot of bones. She says it works especially well cooked in a tandoor oven, or when cooked using the highest broiler setting in a home oven. If you can't source pomfret, swap in sea bass, tilapia, or another light, flaky fish. Go to recipe 08 of 15 Masala Nuts Matt Blair These fried peanuts, cashews, almonds, and walnuts by Maneet Chauhan are seasoned with a mix of spices, including mild Kashmiri chile powder and garam masala. You'll find yourself digging into a bowl of these spiced mixed fried nuts over and over again. The ginger-garlic paste blends with the corn, rice, and chickpea flours and spices to create a seasoned batter that fries up to make the nuts extra crunchy. The dusting of tart chaat masala after the nuts are fried makes them especially irresistible at a Diwali party. Go to recipe 09 of 15 Cardamom Shortbread Cookies with Dulce de Leche Peda Filling Andria Lo Adorned with edible flower petals and gold leaf, these spiced sandwich cookies, which blogger and cookbook author Hetal Vasavada makes for her Diwali celebration, are an occasion unto themselves. Store-bought dulce de leche enriches a filling inspired by peda, a creamy Indian milk fudge flavored with cardamom. For the toppings, be sure to seek out 24-karat gold or pure silver, which is safe for consumption. (Purchase from Slo Food Group: Loose Leaf Edible Gold Sheets, $41.99 for 25 sheets; Loose Leaf Edible Silver Foil, $16 for 25 sheets; slofoodgroup.com.) For flowers, Vasavada likes to use calendula and pansies, and notes that fresh petals from Whole Foods or other retailers will work as long as they marked as "edible." Go to recipe 10 of 15 Chicken Tikka Masala Samosas Matt Blair Creamy chicken tikka masala is the filling for these flaky samosas. Maneet Chauhan created these Chicken Tikka Masala Samosas for her son, Karma, as part of her family's Diwali celebration. The ginger-garlic paste, tandoori masala, and garam masala spice blends give the chicken a lot of flavor, while the creamy tomato sauce adds richness. These samosas are large, so feel free to cut them into smaller pieces if you prefer. Go to recipe 11 of 15 Chivda Photo by Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Popular during Diwali, this snack mix has many variations. Yamini Joshi's version, which she keeps on hand for visitors during the holiday, includes crispy rice flakes, nuts, shredded coconut, spices, seeds, raisins, and roasted split chickpeas. Fragrant from curry leaves, sour from ground dried pomegranate arils, and lightly smoky from black salt, it's a crunchy, chewy blend that's wonderful with hot chai. Go to recipe 12 of 15 Jalebi Anna Stockwell Anytime around Diwali, you'll find golden, translucent, crispy, sticky, jewel-like jalebis in boxes stacked up high inside mithai shops and Indian grocery stores all around the world. Jalebi, a Persian-origin sweet that is popular in India, is a treat made from batter that's drizzled into hot oil to deep-fry it, and then briefly soaked in a fragrant saffron- and cardamom-infused syrup. Typically, jalebi is made with a fermented batter, or attho, but in more modern times cooks have found a quick shortcut by using baking soda, eno (fruit salt), or lemons to acidify the batter. While making jalebi, the most important thing to keep in mind is to make sure the syrup is warm and to immediately drop the deep-friend jalebis from the oil into syrup so that the jalebis soak it all up. If the syrup is too hot or too cold, the jalebi will not absorb the syrup and you'll end up with soggy jalebis, which will still taste good but won't give you the crispy texture you want. I highly recommend eating them fresh—there truly is nothing like fresh jalebi right out of the syrup! Go to recipe 13 of 15 Boiled Peanut Chaat Victor Protasio Vishwesh Bhatt's boiled peanut chaat is boiled with turmeric, ginger, garlic, and other spices to create a delicious and aromatic snack. Go to recipe 14 of 15 Ombré Coconut Burfi Cake Andria Lo Underneath the purple-and-white ombré coat of sweetened coconut, cookbook author and blogger Hetal Vasavada's slim, tall layer cake is bound with a cloud-like layer of Swiss meringue buttercream. But the best part is the chewy coconut filling, inspired by burfi, a type of fudge-like, milk-based Indian sweet. Coconut milk keeps the cake layers incredibly moist with a tender crumb. Go to recipe 15 of 15 Marigold Poori and Rose Halwa Matt Blair This dessert recipe features a rose-scented pudding and pooris accented with sugared marigolds. When creating a dessert for Diwali, Maneet Chauhan went all out, infusing fried pooris with marigolds, and pairing them with a halwa made with rose water syrup and dusted with rose petals and pistachios. "Marigolds are use as decoration everywhere at our parties," she says of her inspiration for this dessert. "I wanted to use them to make this dessert beautiful and delicious." If you can't source the rose water syrup, use a simple syrup and add 2 drops rose water and 2 drops red food coloring. Go to recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit